Improvement in meat-cans



Gv. BROUGHAM. Meat-Gan.

Patented July 16, |878.

.PEERS. FHOTU-QTHDGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

GEORGE BROUGHAM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN MEAT-CANS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 205.946, dated July 16, 1878; application tiled September 10, 1877.

To all whom it muy concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE BROUGHAM, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Meat-Cans, of which the following is a specification:

Meat is now packed in its natural state in hermetically-sealed cans in very large quantities, and it has been found a desideratum in these cans that they be so shaped and formed as to permit as great an amount of collapse from the atmospheric pressure as possible, as thereby the content-s of the can are solidified and their preservation rendered more certain.

Cylindrical cans, while they are the most economical in point of labor and material consumed in their manufacture, are yet inferior to flat-sided cans, in that they do not permit this collapse upon all sides.

To remedy this defect has been my endeavor in the present invention, and I accomplish it -by constructing the body of the can of a cylinder of metal, which, between its ends, is so stamped as to form a number of flat panels, thus preserving at the top and bottom the circular form and facilitating the insertion of the l1eads,and at the same time permitting the collapse to take place in the intermediate or flat portions.

This will be more fully understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and wherein- Figure l is a central vertical section of my improved can; Fig. 2, a centra-l horizontal section, and Fig. 3 a top view of the same.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts wherever used in the several figures.

In the drawings, I designate the heads of my can by the letter A, and they may be made in the bulging form shown, or varied as desired. The body of the can is composed of asingle piece of met-al, the top and bottom b b being circular, while the intermediate portion is bent or headed vertically at c c, whereby fiat panels or sides d d are formed. In the can shown in the drawing there are eight of these panels; but I do not wish. to be restricted to that number, as a less or a greater number, depending, of course, upon the diameter of the can may be used. It is preferable, however, that the panels be as wide as the dimensions of the package Will permit, due regard being had to the strength ot' the metal and the appearance ot' the completed article. To permit a more perfect iiattening ot' the panels, depressions e e may be formed around the body between the circular and the paneled portions thereof.

The heads of circular cans are inserted much more easily than those of angular ones it' drawn out of their true form in the filling or packing, as they are readily forced back by simply running a thin blade around between the head and the sides. This advantage, of course, follows the use of my improvement.

It will be noticed that my construction permits the compression of the meat at the middle of the can, that being the point where the collapse of the heads is least felt, and this peculiarity permits the lengthening of the can bcyond what has been customary.

I do not wish to be understood as stating that the sides of round cans do not collapse at all, as, in fact, they often do; but the collapse is apt to take place upon one or two sides onl y, and it is always irregularly shaped, and renders the package unsightly and unsalable. By my improvement the can is rendered so strong that no fallin g in will take place except in the central portions of the panels, and as they are all alike they will be apt to be affected alike, and thus the collapse, which in round cans may happen in one spot only, is evenly distributed around the entire circumference. It is in this way, too, that the regularity and appearance of the can are preserved.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The meat-can the body whereof is round at the ends and tlattened in the intermediate portion, substantially as set forth.

CEO. BROUGIIAM. lVitncsses:

EDW. S. Evnn'rs, FORDE It. SMITH. 

